Siulley Muntari was missing with a rib injury which meant Arnold Mvuemba took his place.
Pompey dominated the first 15 minutes and Milan Baros wasted two great opportunities to give Pompey the lead. But after that the home side grew in confidence and began to test Jamie Ashdown.
When Boro were awarded a corner in the 39th minute you could see Tony Adams giving some instructions out from the touchline which were duly ignored as Chris Riggott rose above Sylvain Distin to head in.
That was an absolutely disgraceful goal to concede. The marking was non-existent and Tony Adams would have been furious.
Pompey made the same mistake in the second half as once again the marking was dreadful from a corner and Tuncay headed in the second which secured the points for Middlesbrough.
We created absolutely nothing else during the game and had this game been more important and we weren't in the FA Cup Final, you would have seen a very angry sea of blue leaving Teeside yesterday.
That defeat meant we have now lost three games in a row and to put that in context we never suffered this sort of run at all last campaign. Who knows? It could be four straight defeats next week as Fulham come to Fratton Park looking for a win that would secure their top flight future.
I really hope that the coaching staff will lay into the players after that performance. The defending wasn't good but the more worrying thing is that we are really struggling to create anything and we look toothless up front at the moment.
Harry's got some work to do if we're to lift the FA Cup come May 17th, and it is an if and not a when.
Pompey Player Ratings
Jamie Ashdown: 6 - A couple of good saves but must command his area better.
Glen Johnson: 7 - The pick of our defenders.
Sol Campbell: 6 - Average.
Sylvain Distin: 6 - Sloppy marking.
Hermann Hreidarsson: 6 - Struggled at times.
Arnold Mvuemba: 6 - Showed some promise.
Lassana Diarra: 8 - Best player on the pitch again, the Boro players couldn't touch him.
Papa Bouba Diop: 5 - Poor once again.
Niko Kranjcar: 6 - Nowhere near his best.
Milan Baros: 5 - Woeful finishing.
Jermain Defoe: 5 - Anonymous.
Substitutes
Asmir Begovic
Lauren
Richard Hughes
Sean Davis: 6 - Didn't change the game.
David Nugent: 6 - Never looked like scoring.